In the medical care industry, constant vigilance is maintained over the cost of the care provided to patients, with particular attention being given simultaneously to assuring the well-being of the patient. One method currently being practiced by some health care institutions, particularly hospitals, is centered around the concept of clinical pathways. As used in this environment, the concept attempts to bring to bear upon the care afforded a patient all those resources of the institution which are dictated by the nature of the patient's illness and which will provide the dictated care, and result in the patient being restored to that state of health that permits proper release from the institution after a minimum length of stay. The use of the clinical pathway concept has been demonstrated to reduce the length of stay in an institution of a patient. It has further been demonstrated to reduce the overall cost of the treatment of the patient while in the institution by ensuring that no ill effect associated with the patient's stay in the institution caused the patient to require more than a standard regimen of treatment for a specific illness. For example, through proper care, the patient is prevented from developing decubitus ulcers which could require that the patient remain in the institution for an extended period of time, just for treatment of the ulcers.
In health-care institutions employing the clinical pathway concept, there is developed within the institution a protocol for the treatment of a given illness, surgical procedure, or other regimen of medical care to be provided to a patient (termed a "procedure"). This protocol lists the contribution of each institutional unit (e.g. department) toward the treatment of the patient (termed a "care event"), and the sequence in which each to care event is to occur. This protocol then becomes the "standard" for the care to be provided for any patient entering the institution and suffering from the particular illness (medical diagnosis) which is addressed by the protocol.
Prior to the present invention, the clinical pathway concept has been applied internally of health care institutions, affecting only those services which originate within the institution and which are provided by the internal resources of the institution. No correlation of the protocol to the cost of supplies in known to have been made prior to the present invention. Yet, one of the major sources of costs associated with the treatment of a patient in an institution is the cost of the supplies which are consumed by the institution. Because of this shortcoming of the clinical pathway concept, health care institutions have failed to achieve significant cost savings with respect to the supplies used in the course of any given protocol. This is especially true with regard to disposable medical supplies which typically are supplied to the institution from outside sources.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,795 discloses a method for the delivery, storage, transport and disposal of medical supplies to a health care institution in which the ultimate cost to the institution of the medical supplies is reduced by supplying disposable medical supplies direct from a supplier in receptacles which may thereafter be used by the institution in safely disposing of waste medical supplies. This method is dependent upon the institution identifying the supplies needed and placing an order for the same from a supplier. The usefulness of the method therefore is limited by the institution's accuracy of ordering. If the institution has inadequate facilities to determine its supply needs, and as a consequence orders too little or too much of a given supply item, this prior art system has no means for detecting this shortcoming.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for the selection and delivery of medical supplies to a health-care institution.